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Friday, January 18, 2013

A. A. Milne 130th Birthday Party

L's nursery school had a "Teddy Bear's Picnic" party on January 18 to celebrate the 130th birthday of Alan Alexander Milne. He was the British author famous for creating Winnie-the-Pooh. The party was an after-hours affair (from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.) and partiers had to bring only a teddy bear. We asked if J could come since his school is right next to her nursery and we'd be picking him up at that time anyway. The staff said it was okay, so we all went to the party.

When we arrived plenty of parents and children were already having a good time. One table had coloring. Another had painting. A third had gluing. The toy kitchen was fully stocked. The reading rug had plenty of books and Legos for children to play with. L immediately jumped into the coloring; J had a harder time settling. He spotted one of his classmates and they worked together to feed J's stuffed animal Arf, who is in fact a dog and not a bear (though he was built at a Build-A-Bear store). J began having fun.

L wanted to switch to the painting table but all the seats were full. She patiently waited by the chairs until someone got up, then she swooped in. She asked a teacher for a Piglet to paint (Piglet was on a piece of paper). Then she asked me to clear some space so she could work. The end product was quite nice but also quite wet. A teacher hung it to dry. L then started asking about food. We told her to ask her teachers since we parents were clueless.

J was hungry at this point too. Luckily the wait wasn't too long for the picnic part of the party to start. Everyone moved to a new room where a bunch of low tables were set for little guests. We ate small triangle sandwiches with chips and melon slices. One of the staff asked L what sandwich she wanted. L said, "Cake." The lady brought her an egg sandwich. L tried it and was not satisfied (obviously, since it wasn't cake). She bravely tried a little bit more. J stuck to the chips. When a lady said that we parents were invited to eat as well, J insisted that Mommy and Daddy have some too. You have to follow the rules, after all.

We almost left before the cake. The kids were going a little crazy (too many people in too small a space) and wanted to go. But the tray of cupcakes came out and little minds were changed. As soon as the cupcakes were done, we headed for home.

It was a fun party if a bit hectic. We'll have to pick up L's art next week when it is dry. And watch some Winnie-the-Pooh to celebrate.